New Zealand’s growing skills shortage and an opportunity to nurture homegrown talent are key drivers behind the decision for the NorthWest managed, Vital Healthcare Property Trust’s recent collaboration with charitable organisation Keystone Trust.
Keystone Trust provides education and career support for students with financial and circumstantial needs who are working towards a qualification in the property and construction sectors, and says its partnership with Vital Healthcare – New Zealand’s only listed, specialist owner of healthcare properties will open new doors for its students.
“Vital Healthcare has been a sponsor of Keystone Trust for three years and during the past 12 months we have been discussing how they can better support students while developing a pathway into their business,” says Keystone Trust general manager Amanda Stanes.
“Stepping up to be a Key Scholarship Partner offering an annual scholarship with paid work experience opportunities to a University of Auckland student studying property shows a real commitment to supporting the sector and its young people,” she adds.
With a property portfolio of hospitals, aged-care and rehabilitation assets valued at more than $3 billion – nearly one third of which are located in New Zealand and Australia, Vital is well-poised to attract new talent to the sector.
“This scholarship gives us a wonderful opportunity to support a student who may not have had the opportunity to attend tertiary education, or gain access to a mentor,” says Aaron Hockly, who leads Vital Healthcare Property Trust.
“It also enables us to provide a young person with insights and experience in the healthcare property sector – and to show property can be much more than just commercial and industrial or residential development,” he adds.
Ms Stanes says she is thrilled to welcome Vital Healthcare to the Keystone family, with its position as a market leader and New Zealand’s fourth largest property entity offering students access to significantly growing sector.
“The construction, design and management of healthcare facilities is fascinating, informed by research and of growing importance as the global community continues to navigate the shock, and ongoing effects of the pandemic,” she says.
The partnership with Keystone is an extension of Vital and its manager – NorthWest Healthcare Properties’ – commitment to supporting critical healthcare research and initiatives.
Separately, NorthWest has recently pledged $5 million for a five-year project that will see top researchers from international universities in Toronto, Melbourne and Sydney examine pressing issues in health policy and health systems – with scope for expansion to partners in the United States, United Kingdom and Brazil.
Stanes says initiatives like this offer Keystone students exposure to the development process of more efficient healthcare facilities, informed by research findings – including the impact of pandemic events.
“As a material stakeholder in the healthcare industry we have an inherent interest in academic research and supporting our partners to pursue healthcare innovations that have a sustainable, enduring and meaningful impact on communities around the world,” Hockly says.
“Healthcare facilities are important pieces of social infrastructure – where good design principles create more efficient and effective work environments leading to better patient outcomes, increased staff wellbeing and facilities that accommodate the needs of entire communities,” he adds.
Stanes agrees saying private sector investment into healthcare assets improves operational capacity with the potential to make a real difference in people’s lives – including the development of mental health facilities which are materially under-serviced in New Zealand.
“Keystone students are coming of age in a world where values of sustainability, meaningfulness and ‘doing good’ are of increasing importance – and exposure to an evolving market that enables the use of their professional qualifications while creating high-quality treatment facilities is an attractive career path for the next generation,” she says.
*Figures are correct for the period ended 31 December 2021.
For further media enquiries please contact
Amanda Stanes
Keystone Trust – General Manager
M: 021 689 380
E: amanda@keystonetrust.org.nz
Liz Ingram
Vital Healthcare Property Trust – Executive Assistant
M: 022 647 5122
E: liz.ingram@nwreit.com
